Rachel Mallalieu
Rachel Mallalieu is an emergency physician and mother of five. She is the author of the chapbook A History of Resurrection (Alien Buddha Press 2022). Some of her recent work is featured or forthcoming in Nelle, Chestnut Review, Whale Road Review, and DIALOGIST.
The End of Illness Is Not Health
I’ll admit, the summer my body attacked itself,
I gained a clarity of purpose. Collapsed against
my steering wheel in the parking lot, I’d steel myself
to shop for groceries. I dutifully swallowed every pill,
even as my face became a moon
and my ankles ached. I’d regain my strength,
hike the forest hills again.
Today, in the woods, starlings shape shift
against the frosted pane of a late November sky.
They alight on an oak who still wears his crimson crown.
My dog startles as they send the rusted creak of their cries
toward Heaven. This, this is exactly what I wished
for. And still, the birds murmur are you sure, are you sure?